St Peter said, "Well,
You got back quick.
How's the devil?
And what's his latest trick?

And Slim say, Peter,
I really can't tell.
The place was Dixie
that I took for hell.

Then Peter say,
"You must be crazy, I vow
Where in hell
did you think hell was anyhow?"

His spoken word imitated the many voices of Southern Black experience. Born May 1, 1901 in Washington, D.C., Sterling Brown pursued his interests in blues and jazz, while his father taught religious studies at Howard University.